1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to fertilizer. More particularly, it relates to compositions for extended release fertilizer that can be used year-round on warm and cold turf.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The conventional art has seen a variety of fertilizer compositions that effectively provide nutrients to turf and other plants, a variety of methods of irrigating turf, and a variety of mechanical apparatuses that effectively dethatch turf. However, generally each of these processes must occur independently, and are time-consuming and environmentally-depleting.
Controlled-release or slow-release fertilizers exist in the prior art and contain appropriate percentages of nitrogen, phosphorous oxide, and potassium oxide (and optionally micronutrients), dictating the fertilizer's NPK rating. Controlled-release fertilizers might encounter an initial release from imperfections in the coating of the prills or from the exclusion of coating on particular prills. Thereupon, nutrients are released from these prills when water enters the prill and dissolves the fertilizer inside the prill, releasing the nutrients from the prill into the surrounding environment. Temperature of the soil then determines the release rate of the nutrients.
Slow-release fertilizers may include additional ingredients, such as sulfur, the thickness of which dictates penetration of water; wax, the presence of which prevents water from penetrating the sulfur layer; urea formaldehyde; and slowly (or low) soluble salts.
The prior art has seen use of humic acid in fertilizers as well. However, when turf is treated with products using humic acid, the turf has been seen to become worn down, as the humic acid is too aggressive and has not been added in an effective manner (e.g., amount, combination, secondary ingredients, etc.). Thus, persons of ordinary skill in this art have endured a long-felt but unresolved need to create a fertilizer with humic acid in granular form.
Dethatching, or scarification, is the process of rigorously abrading the turf to aerate the turf and loosen/remove the layer of thatch, or layer of living and dead organic matter knit together just above the soil surface. The presence of some thatch is acceptable and may actually help the turf, but excess thatch repels water or prohibits water and nutrients from reaching the soil and also encourages the presence of insects and diseases within the thatch. Mechanical apparatuses (e.g., vertical mowers) are used to dethatch turf by utilizing revolving vertical knives that cut the thatch and pull it to the surface of the turf. Certain bacterial agents have also been found to break down thatch, but the effects are short-lived. After dethatching or scarification via a vertical mower, the turf must be recovered since the mower pulled the thatch from beneath the surface of the turf. The turf can be recovered by applying fertilizer to the turf and watering the fertilizer into the turf.
Regarding irrigation, the Environmental Protection Agency states that “[n]ationwide, landscape irrigation is estimated to account for almost one-third of all residential water use, totaling more than 7 billion gallons per day.” Not only do people over-water their turf (having a negative domino effect, for example the Calussahatchee River emptying into Fort Myers and surrounding islands), conventional synthetic fertilizers require excessive amount of water to produce a healthy turf, leading to a depletion of natural resources. This is a very serious problem in the United States.
Additionally, if an individual wishes and is allowed to irrigate his/her turf around the year, conventional fertilizers are unable to meet warm and cool season turf needs.
Accordingly, what is needed is a dethatching, water-retaining fertilizer that can be applied effectively around the year. However, in view of the art considered as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill how the art could be advanced.
While certain aspects of conventional technologies have been discussed to facilitate disclosure of the invention, Applicants in no way disclaim these technical aspects, and it is contemplated that the claimed invention may encompass one or more of the conventional technical aspects discussed herein.
The present invention may address one or more of the problems and deficiencies of the prior art discussed above. However, it is contemplated that the invention may prove useful in addressing other problems and deficiencies in a number of technical areas. Therefore, the claimed invention should not necessarily be construed as limited to addressing any of the particular problems or deficiencies discussed herein.
In this specification, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date, publicly available, known to the public, part of common general knowledge, or otherwise constitutes prior art under the applicable statutory provisions; or is known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which this specification is concerned.